Eyebrow tweezers

ABSTRACT

Eyebrow tweezers are provided for people with poor vision which enable the plucking of eyebrows without the necessity of removing eyeglasses. The tweezers include a pair of jaw blades which are bent away from the plane of movement of the handle. The ends of the jaw blades have a portion thereof cut away and curved to provide flat knife-like mating edges and a firm gripping action. The edges form a point at one end to facilitate manipulation of the tweezers beneath or between eyebrow hairs.

United States Patent Dunn [54] EYEBROW TWEEZERS [72] Inventor: DixieDunn, Mobile, Ala.

[22] Filed: July 6, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 52,181

[52] US. Cl ..128/355, 81/5.l

[51] Int. Cl. ..A6lb 17/28, B25b 7/00 [58] Field ofsearch ..81/5.1;128/321, 354, 355

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,471,422 10/1923 Shearer..128/32l X 1,765,783 6/1930 Young ..81/5.l l,886,1 27 11/1932 Silvis128/355 1 May 23, 1972 2,089,177 8/1937 Beldue ..128/355 PrimaryExaminer-Channing L. Pace An0mey--Cameron, Kerkam & Sutton ABSTRACTEyebrow tweezers are provided for people with poor vision which enablethe plucking of eyebrows without the necessity of removing eyeglasses.The tweezers include a pair of jaw blades which are bent away from theplane of movement of the handle. The ends of the jaw blades have aportion thereof cut away and curved to provide flat knife-like matingedges and a firm gripping action. The edges form a point at one end tofacilitate manipulation of the tweezers beneath or between eyebrowhairs.

lClaim,6DrawingFigures EYEBROW TWEEZERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates generally to tweezers adapted to be used for pluckingeyebrows. More particularly, the invention is adapted for use byindividuals having poor vision who are required to wear correctivelenses to compensate for their loss of vision.

Tweezers, in general, have been used for a variety of applications, suchas, for example, the removal of hang nails, ingrown or superfluoushairs, foreign bodies, etc., and require a firm and tight grippingsurface for gripping the object being worked upon. Over the years, avariety of tweezer configurations has been developed and mostimprovements have usually been directed to the gripping surface or jawmembers. The gripping surface may take the form of a toothedconstruction as shown in US. Pat. No. 2,678,578 and design 157,104 or,in the'alternative, the gripping surface may be a broad flat face asshown, for example, in US. Pat. No. 2,089,177. Such tweezers aredesigned for use where there are no obstructions. Accordingly, suchtweezers are not readily adapted for use by individuals having poorvision who are required to wear glasses constantly.

Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the needs of individualswith extremely poor vision who require the use of eyeglasses when takingcare of their personal needs such as plucking eyebrows. As a resultthereof, the plucking of eyebrows for such individuals must be done by apersonal attendant, is left undone or, as a last resort, is done withthe eyeglasses in place at the risk of knocking the eyeglasses ofl andaccepting the aggravation of the obstruction.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION The present invention enables the wearing ofeyeglasses while plucking eyebrows. To this end, the tweezers aredesigned with long, scissor action handles having jaw membersoperatively connected at one end. The jaw members are bent away from theplane of operation of the handles. The ends of the jaw members haveinward extensions which have a portion of the opposite interior surfacescut away, while the opposite outer surfaces are curved inwardly toprovide a flat knife edge gripping surface. The edges of the extensionsmate to form a point which may be manipulated between the hairs toseparate and select the hairs to be plucked.

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming the subject matter of the invention, it isbelieved the invention will be more easily understood from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of a pair of tweezers embodying thestructural features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of the tweezers shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged rear elevational view of the jawmembers of the tweezers shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged front elevational view of the jawmembers of the tweezers shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, left side view of the tweezers taken along line5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the tip of a jaw member taken alongline 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, referencecharacter 10 designates generally the improved eyebrow tweezers of thepresent invention comprising'a pair of metal members 11 and 12 pivotallyconnected together. Each of the members move in a common plane, eitherindividually or simultaneously, as indicated, for example, by thephantom lines in FIG. 1.

Each unit 11 and 12 comprises a handle member which is curved at the endas at 14 to form a finger receiving loop or grip by which the operatormanipulates the tweezers. The

unit has a wide flattened portion 16 through which a pivot pin or rivet13 extends for pivotally connecting the two units together. To this end,the flattened portions abut and cross each other to provide ascissor-like action.

As best seen in FIGS. 2-6, each jaw is bent away from'the plane ofoperation of the handles at an angle of about 35 and the flattenedportions lie in a plane normal to that of the plane of operation of thehandles. This enables the jaw members to be placed in contact with thehairs of the eyebrow while the operator's eyeglasses are being worn. Therelatively long handles prevent the operators fingers from obstructingthe view of the eyebrow as reflected in a mirror, while allowingmanipulation of the tweezers free and clear of the eyeglasses.

The jaws 15 are bowed outwardly at 17 contiguous to the pivot point andterminate with inward extensions 18 to provide optimum gripping actionat the ends of the jaws. The opposite interior surfaces of the matingjaw extensions 18 each have a portion thereof cut away or milled as at19 so that the jaws terminate in well defined straight lines that abutand provide a flat knife-like edge20 having a maximum gripping action.The edge comes to a point at 21. This point facilitates manipulation ofthe tweezers beneath or between the hairs of the eyebrow.

The back surfaces 23 of the jaws are curved and fall away inwardly asshown in FIG. 5, so that the edges generally follow the slope or contourof the eyebrow. Tweezer action is on the back of the blade which may bepressed firmly against the skin so as to permit the hair to be grippedbetween the flat knifelike edges of the mating jaw members. To this end,it should be noted that the mating edges of the jaw members abut and aredisposed at an angle with respect to the planeof operation of thehandles, said latter plane being represented by lines AA.

The overall dimensions of a typical tweezer embodying the presentinvention are: height 4%0 inches; distance between outer extremities ofloops 14- 1% inches; length of jaw member from tip 21 to bend point 2234/64 inch; length of edge 20 13/64 inch. Preferably, the tweezers arefabricated from a hard metal such as, for example, stainless steel.

As should be apparent from the foregoing description, the tweezersembodying the present invention permit plucking of the eyebrows by onewith poor vision without removal of the eyeglasses. The outer slopingand edge surfaces fit the curve of the eyebrow, while the point servesas a guide for separating hairs. The bend of the jaws away from theplane of operation of the handles enables the operator to place thetweezers over and around the rims of the operators eyeglasses so as toenable the eyebrows to be plucked without removal of the operatorseyeglasses. I

While the invention has been illustrated and described in connectionwith a preferred embodiment, minor changes may suggest themselves tothose skilled in the art and it is the intention of the appended claimsto cover all such changes which come within the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. An eyebrow tweezer adapted for use by a person wearing glassesdesigned to be operated over and above said glasses, comprises a pair ofelongate handle members each having a finger engaging loop at one end, agripping jaw at the other end and a flattened portion disposed adjacentsaid gripping jaw, said flattened portions bearing against each other incrossing relationship, a pivot pin extending through said flat tenedportions pivotally connecting said handle members, the handle memberseach being offset toward the other where they cross, continuing inclose, parallel relationship and terminating in a convexly curved,cutaway extension provided with a rectilinear shoulder, said shouldersabutting each other to form mating, flattened operating surfaces, saidshoulders lying in a plane at right angles to the plane of said handlesand the jaw members being bent from the plane of said handles at anangle of approximately 35 whereby the operator may apply the extremitiesof the jaws to the eyebrows over the upper rims of the glasses whileholding the tweezers by the finger loops thereof, below the lower edgeof the glasses.

1. An eyebrow tweezer adapted for use by a person wearing glassesdesigned to be operated over and above said glasses, comprises a pair ofelongate handle members each having a finger engaging loop at one end, agripping jaw at the other end and a flattened portion disposed adjacentsaid gripping jaw, said flattened portions bearing against each other incrossing relationship, a pivot pin extending through said flattenedportions pivotally connecting said handle members, the handle memberseach being offset toward the other where they cross, continuing inclose, parallel relationship and terminating in a convexly curved,cutaway extension provided with a rectilinear shoulder, said shouldersabutting each other to form mating, flattened operating surfaces, saidshoulders lying in a plane at right angles to the plane of said handlesand the jaw members being bent from the plane of said handles at anangle of approximately 35* whereby the operator may apply theextremities of the jaws to the eyebrows over the upper rims of theglasses while holding the tweezers by the finger loops thereof, belowthe lower edge of the glasses.